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By Erich Vieth on November 19th, 2009
The Onion examines Obama’s overuse of teleprompters
The ever-vigilant Onion Network News examines President Obama’s apparent over-reliance on the use of teleprompters:
Category: Uncategorized
By Mindy Carney on November 18th, 2009
What we should all wish for our children -
Friday evening, I was fortunate enough to attend the 40th anniversary Founder’s Dinner for the elementary school my daughters attended. My youngest, thankfully, is still there. She only has a year left after this one, and already I can feel the size of the hole left in my life when I no longer have the community behind its Big Red Doors to mingle with every day. This young woman, Brittany Packnett, was one of the speakers, an alumnus of the school who has gone on to make a difference in many more young lives as teacher in Washington D.C. I was in tears as I listened to her, knowing that my girls are being blessed with the same underpinnings of which she so eloquently speaks. This is what education for all children should be about.
[Admin note: See also this related post on Howard Gardner's theory of Multiple Intelligences]
By Erich Vieth on October 30th, 2009
Bernie Sanders discusses the power of big money and the need for publicly funded elections
How does it happen that a year after the economic crisis, Congress has enacted no real economic reform? Is it because financial corporations have spent five billion dollars on campaign contributions? Why do Americans pay the highest prices in the world for prescription drugs? Why do we have an enormous military despite the end of the cold war? Independent Senator Bernie Sanders points to the common source of the problem:
On and on it goes. The reality of Washington, to a very significant degree, is that those people who have the money are able to influence public policy. Big money controls the agenda. If you don’t have the money, you get to the end of the line.
That’s the reality today. It could get worse. Right now, the Supreme Court is considering a case that could be used to open the coffers of all the big corporations to directly fund campaign ads in this country. So you would not just be dealing with political action committees and lobbyists, you would have to deal with the treasuries of large corporations.
This is a huge issue. The antidote, in my view, is public funding of elections so that everybody has the opportunity to run for office without having to be beholden to powerful special interests.
Here’s another issue where money is corrupting the debate: net neutrality. I agree with Sanders. In fact, I’m ready to concede that we are unable to deal with any important issue in the United States because the conversation has been thoroughly corrupted by money in the form of private campaign contributions. We desperately need publicly funded campaigns to have a chance to honestly deliberate important issues.
By Mike Pulcinella on October 26th, 2009
If the Methodists can do it, why can’t everyone?
While shooting footage for a documentary in Brooklyn this past weekend I came upon this sign outside of a Methodist church and felt compelled to share it with you. It made me feel good to see tolerance so boldly stated.
By Erich Vieth on October 23rd, 2009
Get not-so-rich slowly
When this was first published by The Onion in 2005, it was meant to be humorous . . .
By Erich Vieth on October 14th, 2009
I don’t get this at all
According to accompanying article, the hockey player in this video is only 9 years old. While you become spellbound by the way he shoots the puck, don’t forget to be also dazzled by the way he skates. Unbelievable.
By Erich Vieth on October 07th, 2009
The Onion: Obama’s plan gives seniors choice of how to die
According to The Onion, President Obama has now come forth with details regarding his death panels for senior citizens:
“Once again, let me be perfectly clear,” Obama continued. “Seniors, rest easy knowing that I will never, under any circumstance, sign a bill that doesn’t give you the option of being murdered by my administration in a manner of your choosing. I promise you that.”
By Erich Vieth on September 25th, 2009
Watch a feather fall as fast as a hammer
Where can you see a feather fall as fast as a hammer? On the moon. Watch this delightful 1 minute demonstration by astronaut David Scott of Apollo 15:
By Erich Vieth on September 16th, 2009
Trendy new store displays graphic image of a man being murdered
There’s a cool new grocery store in downtown St. Louis. Until the new Schnucks Culinaria opened up last month, there hadn’t been a full service grocery in downtown St. Louis for decades. It is an inviting and well-designed store. More than just a store too. It’s becoming a community gathering spot, where one can often hear live music and attend wine tastings. 
Into the middle of the fray comes this: The manager, who by all accounts is a terrific store manager, decided to display a one-foot-tall crucifix with a graphic image of a bloody Jesus high up on the wall behind the service counter. It is can be easily viewed by customers who are in the process of checking out.
This has brought some controversy, as reported by the local newspaper, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. For those of us who have worked downtown for many years, this new store had instantly become “our” store, no matter who we were. But now it’s not quite “our” store unless we believe in the divinity of the dying Jesus.
As indicated by a Jewish customer:
“It would have been equally startling if it had been a Star of David or an emblem of another religion,” Weinstock said. “It’s grocery shopping, and it should be welcoming to all and exclude none.”
The manager, Tom Collora, is quoted as follows:
Collora says exclusion is not what he had in mind. The crucifix, he said, “is not meant to promote one faith over another. It’s just an opportunity to share a part of myself and my life with people I work hard to serve every day.”
This controversy reminds me why the First Amendment is generally a good idea. Not that the First Amendment applies to a private grocery store (it clearly doesn’t), but exclusion of out-groups usually starts in subtle ways. Not that the manager is trying to exclude customers. That does not appear to be his conscious intention. But the effect of displaying any badges of in-group membership announces: this is a place for people like the people who are displaying the image. It draws a distinction between those who are Catholic and all of those (including many types of Christians) who don’t believe it’s proper to display a graphically depicted murder in an otherwise non-threatening public place. From the viewpoint of many people, the prominently displayed crucifix says: “This is not really and truly a place for people like you, though you may enter here and shop.” In this way, it functions much like graffiti, suggesting group ownership of a location.
Though I don’t doubt that he is a competent store manager, I found the manager’s explanation disingenuous. If he were really simply trying to “share” a faith, he might want to open up that big wall for religious icons preferred by his other employees too. Maybe some of the employees are Scientologists, Buddhists and Muslims. Maybe the entire wall should be covered to accommodate all of the major faiths practiced by the customers who all simply want to “share.” But he is also disingenuous in another way: Certainly, the image of a bloody dying Jesus is meant to promote one faith over others.
Here’s another potential source of the disconnect between the manager and some of his customers: Over the years, Mr. Collora has probably become desensitized to the horrors of the
bloody image that he is displaying. That happens to all Catholics (including me, when I was forced to go to church as a boy). We lose the ability to be repulsed by the torture displayed the churches we regularly attend unless we consciously work hard to see the images of the bloody Jesus anew. Consider this: What would the store manager think if the Assistant Manager, who felt really strongly that the United States shouldn’t torture its prisoners, displayed one of the Abu Ghraib images next to the crucifix? I imagine that Mr. Collora would have a fit. “We can’t display graphic images of torture in our store! What are you thinking, man?”
By Erich Vieth on September 10th, 2009
Tasteless? Funny? I can’t decide.
I did a double-take when I saw this van today on the way to work. It seemed both clever and unkind. It left me wondering whether, and to what extent, it was over the line.
I wonder what blind people would think about this play on words. If they all said that they were OK with it, should that be the deciding factor?
Am I just being too PC?
By Erich Vieth on September 06th, 2009
Just how dysfunctional are we? Ask Bill Moyers.
Just how dysfunctional are we? Here’s what Bill Moyers has to say:
Bill Maher asked me on his show last week if America is still a great nation. I should have said it’s the greatest show on earth. Forget what you learned in civics about the Founding Fathers — we’re the children of Barnum and Bailey, our founding con men. Their freak show was the forerunner of today’s talk radio.
Speaking of which: we’ve posted on our website an essay by the media scholar Henry Giroux. He describes the growing domination of hate radio as one of the crucial elements in a “culture of cruelty” increasingly marked by overt racism, hostility and disdain for others, coupled with a simmering threat of mob violence toward any political figure who believes health care reform is the most vital of safety nets, especially now that the central issue of life and politics is no longer about working to get ahead, but struggling simply to survive.
So here we are, wallowing in our dysfunction. Governed — if you listen to the rabble rousers — by a black nationalist from Kenya smuggled into the United States to kill Sarah Palin’s baby. And yes, I could almost buy their belief that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction, only I think he shipped them to Washington, where they’ve been recycled as lobbyists and trained in the alchemy of money laundering, which turns an old-fashioned bribe into a First Amendment right.
By Erich Vieth on September 04th, 2009
National Geographic on the state of solar power
The September 2009 issue of National Geographic has a comprehensive series of articles on the state of solar power. Here’s the online version of one of the articles. What is the potential of solar power?
“The total power needs of the humans on Earth is approximately 16 terawatts,” he said. (A terawatt is a trillion watts.) “In the year 2020 it is expected to grow to 20 terawatts. The sunshine on the solid part of the Earth is 120,000 terawatts. From this perspective, energy from the sun is virtually unlimited.”
By Erika Price on September 02nd, 2009
Why are all the Youtube stars from LA?
Youtube was supposed to be one of Web 2.0’s shining examples of user-generated original content. In a world (in 2005) when everything worthwhile was already online and fully consumed, Youtube was supposed to provide us with a new outlet to both create and consume. I know it is hard to recall Youtube’s original intent as a creative landscape, but keep in mind that the site’s slogan was and is “Broadcast Yourself”.
Most of us don’t broadcast ourselves, or watch broadcasts of other selves. The last time I fired up Youtube, I was looking for a free way to stream James and the Giant Peach. Any cute skits or beautiful shorts I discovered thereafter were barely bonuses; they were just tasty little incidentals to be quickly forgotten. Most people go to Youtube to view unoriginal creations- movie, TV and music clips or mashups thereof.
Youtube’s most viewed videos of all time are music videos like “7 Things” by Miley Cyrus and Rihanna’s “Don’t Stop the Music”. My little sister uses Youtube as a combination DVR-Itunes-Pandora player. Nothing original seeps in unless I send it to her myself- and then it’s usually just a video of a cute animal, not a creative work.
Ah, but Youtube does have some high-caliber producers of original goodies! People who put on elaborate comedy skits with costumes, professional lighting and substantial editing. People who pull in millions of views. People with whom Youtube has formed profitable, advertising-driven partnerships. These people are broadcasting themselves. But they aren’t like “us”. They are all from Hollywood.
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